WATCH: Cody Gribble casually grabs alligator’s tail at Bay Hill

Cody Gribble didn’t have the best first round at Bay Hill, as evidenced by his triple-bogey at the 3rd hole, but it could have taken a turn for the worse when came across an alligator on the course.

Gribble was strolling down the 6th fairway that runs along the water Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational when he spotted an alligator sunning itself along the fairway’s edge. At this point the obvious course of action would have been to change direction and avoid any interaction with the reptile, but Gribble chose a different path.

The young pro casually took his hand out his pocket and inexplicably grabbed the gator’s tail. Fortunately, the animal chose to dart into the water instead of biting off Cody’s hand, which surely would have been a career-ending injury.